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One Heroic Commute CFD Capt : Saves a Life on the Way to Work

This dramatic photo was caught on the Chelsea/Revere line late last week as Chelsea Fire Department crews tested out the pumper and transmission on one of the apparatus. Sprayingfrom a hydrant into the Mill Creek, firefighters said the area is one of the few large open spaces where they can test out their equipment.

A funny thing happened to Chelsea Fire Capt. Edward McGarry on the way to work Monday, he became a hero again.

Chelsea Fire officials told the Record that McGarry was on his way to work Monday when he ran across a car in Rockland that had wrecked and burst into flames. McGarry apparently rushed to the vehicle and helped to remove a trapped woman from the wreckage just as the cab burst into flames.

Already, Norwell and Rockland Fire Department officials have given McGarry and other bystanders credit for saving the woman’s life. Both have also said McGarry is a hero for his reaction and action.

According to the Quincy Patriot Ledger, the car had been speeding on Rt. 3 when it went into the median and hit several trees. From that accident, the engine began to burn.

McGarry indicated that he saw the fire just before 7 a.m. and grabbed his boots and fire coat, hopped a fence and ran to the scene. Other bystanders were also there, and while one bystanders sprayed the engine with an extinguisher, others helped McGarry pull the woman to safety.

The Patriot Ledger reported that the woman’s legs had become pinned under the dashboard and couldn’t get out. McGarry was able to free her legs and take her out the window feet first, just as flames burst through the cab of the passenger car.

McGarry, a Marshfield resident, has been on the Chelsea Fire Department since 2000. In 2002, he won the Massachusetts Firefighter of the Year for helping to rescue a mother and her child from a burning apartment building in Chelsea.